When Maya finally enters the classroom she's alone. Her eyes immediately jump to Lucas before sweeping over Smackle and Zay to rest on him. If it wasn't clear enough from her glare, the snort of disgust and shaking of her head as she makes her way to her seat in the second row drives it home. Maya Hart is angry—very angry.
He turns to look at her, but she is steadfastly watching the empty chair in front of her with a clenched jaw. He opens his mouth to say something, but quickly closes it again. All he can do is swallow. It is unnerving even for him to see Riley's seat remain empty.
"Well, today class, I've got something great planned." Mr. Matthews waltzes into the room, his face bright with excitement. He flings his briefcase onto his desk before clapping his hands together. "I have stayed up all night, and I think I've really got it down…a real high school history lesson." He smirks at Marly. "That's right. No underlying message, just a good old history lesson. You hear that."
Maya's face falls.
"Now, if I can have you all grab a partner. This is going to be—" Mr. Matthews stops, surprised as Maya's hand shoots into the air. "Yes, Miss Hart?"
"I can't do this the lesson. My partner isn't here."
Mr. Matthews looks from Maya to the empty seat in front of her and then back to Maya. "What do ya mean she's not here? Where's Riley?"
"Probably sitting in the bottom of the hole pretending I don't know that, 'Go on to class, peaches. I'll be there in a few minutes,' means I don't want you to see me cry."
"Riley is crying? My daughter is crying? Why is she crying?"
Maya pushes herself up from her chair and turns to face her friends. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe we should ask her friends."
Mr. Matthews looks at each of them. "Lucas?"
Lucas throws his hands up. "I don't know what we're supposed to do, Mr. Matthews. We told Riley we weren't spending high school in the hole waiting for some lesson. There is no lesson. It is just a bunch of older kids trying to make us feel bad."
Maya saunters forward and puts her hands on the edge of his desk. "You don't know what you do? Let me spell it out for you, Huckleberry. You. Stand. In. The. Hole."
"Maya, I'm not standing in the hole forever waiting for Riley to figure out there is no lesson, and those seniors are just a bunch of bullies. It's too much. She's too trusting."
"We're supposed to all be friends. That's what we've got, and it is supposed to be forever."
"Maya, Lucas is right. Riley has to learn not to put her faith in everyone." The words leave his mouth before he can catch himself, and Farkle immediately regrets it.
Maya rounds on him, looking ready to strangle him by his jacket. "You don't get to talk, Farkle. You don't ever get to talk again. I'm even angrier with you. You should know better. You told us you would always be there for us."
"Maya, I'm always there for you and Riley, but—"
"You came to Topanga's last night. You knew how upset Riley was, how low she felt, and you still didn't show up. You didn't show up." She threw her hands in the air. "You always show up."
"Maya, we can't protect Riley forever. This is high school. She's got to learn, we've all got to learn—"
"To learn what? Learn what, Farkle? The only lesson any of us should want Riley to learn is that her friends are there for her no matter what. If we want her to feel safe enough to leave that hole we should be building up her confidence so she can. We're the teachers here, Farkle. I don't want to stay in that hole any more than the rest of you, but I also don't want Riley to stop seeing the best in people. And since she isn't going to see the best in those seniors, it needs to be us."
Maya took a deep breath, her words coming more softly as she spoke once more. "You once said Riley was like the sun, that she was warm and bright and lit up your whole day. I need that Riley, I need the sun. And I can't imagine you want that Riley to disappear either. Do you want Riley to stop being the sun?"
He shook his head.
"Then stop being a doofus and please come teach her how to get out of that hole."